The Effects of Heavy Ion Particles on the Developing Murine Cerebellum, with Special Reference to Cell Death

Abstract

We report here the effects of heavy ion beams on postnatal mouse cerebellar development, with reference to cell death. Eight-day-old B6C3F1 mice were irradiated with single doses of 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Gy, using a carbon beam of 290 MeV delivered from a heavy ion medical accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC). To compare the effects of X-rays with those of accelerated carbon ions, 8-day-old mice were exposed to X-rays single doses of 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Gy, respectively. Pups were fixed at 1, 6, 12 and 24 hr after exposure to HIMAC beams or X-rays. Four-μm-thick parasagittal sections of the cerebella were processed for hematoxylin-eosin staining as well as for staining with the TUNEL (terminal dUTP nick-end labeling) technique. The density of fragmented nuclei in the external granular layer increased with time, peaking at 6 hr after exposure, in both the HIMAC and X-irradiated groups. In the HIMAC groups, the density was significantly higher in those animals exposed to 0.25 Gy or more compared to 0 Gy, whereas in the X-irradiated groups it was significantly higher in those mice exposed to 0.5 Gy or more. Electron microscopic examinations revealed chromatin condensation in the cell nuclei in the HIMAC groups. This is the first in vivo evidence that apoptotic cell death is induced in developing mouse cerebellum after exposure to heavy ion particles. The difference in the frequency of dying cells between exposure to heavy ion particles and to X-rays may reflect the high linear energy transfer (LET) associated with a heavy ion beam.